American news agency, Bloomberg, has described President Muhammadu Buhari’s record over the last four years as discouraging. The New York-based international news agency further stated that it
wonders if ‘Baba Go Slow’ “is up to the task” of reviving the economy in
his second term.
The news agency noted that in the year 2000, over 1.4 billion people lived at or below the global poverty line of $1.90 a day.
In its editorial published on April 7, 2019, Bloomberg stated that
one of humanity’s most hopeful developments in recent decades has been
the dramatic drop in extreme poverty, adding that Nigeria needs growth
to defuse poverty time.
It added, “Today, the number is about 600 million. This remarkable
change is mainly due to growth in China and India. Much of sub-Saharan
Africa, particularly Nigeria, has failed to share in the success.
“A decade ago, Nigeria had far fewer people in extreme poverty than
either China or India; today, according to data compiled by the World
Data Lab, it has more than both combined. The count stands at more than
90 million, and has risen both in absolute terms and as a share of the
total.
“Nigeria’s young and fast-growing population is projected by the
United Nations to double in size by 2050, making it the world’s
third-biggest. Even assuming that the proportion of Nigerians living in
extreme poverty stops rising as quickly as it has in recent years, it’s
on course to remain extraordinarily high for the foreseeable future.
“Nigeria’s success or failure in confronting extreme poverty will be
pivotal for the rest of Africa, too — partly because of its huge
population but also because of its outsize influence over its neighbors.
“The government led by President Muhammadu Buhari, recently
re-elected to a second and final four-year term, bears a grave
responsibility. One wonders whether a politician known as “Baba Go Slow”
is up to the task.
“His record over the last four years is discouraging. Economic growth
has barely recovered following the 2014 crash in the price of oil,
which remains Nigeria’s biggest export and source of government revenue.
“Per capita gross domestic product is less than it was when he took
office. Joblessness has more than tripled. Efforts to spur agriculture
and other non-oil parts of the economy have failed. Foreign direct
investment has fallen by more than half since 2010.”
